Ready for Summer!

I don't know about y'all but I'm ready for summer break... oh wait, I don't get that anymore. WAH!! The real world stinks! I miss the days of my "job" being taking kids to the pool and tanning (with sunscreen, of course). There are several things I need to be pool ready this summer, and number 1 was new suits. That is now taken care of with 3 new one-pieces! As I told y'all, I am going to be all about the one-piece this summer.

So, here they are:

I love this Marc by Marc Jacobs one, but it came at a hefty price! If it isn't perfect it is going back to Bloomys (yes, I forgave them for the whole credit changing issue) Oh, and it is reversible!

Runched and Knoted Twist-front tank in Casablanca blue.

J Crew Nuevo Tank... love the pink and green paisley!

And, if I felt like really splurging (not like I haven't already, swimsuits are muey expensivo!) I would grab these 2 DKNY suits from Zappos!

Solid, one shoulder ruffle maillot This is just a timeless suit



Solid ruffle bandeau maillot I love the color combo and the cute "sash"

Other items that are necessary during the summer:

Sunscreen: (I have really sensitive skin to sunscreen, these are 2 I have found that my skin doesn't freak out with. I use the Mustela on my face (only a little though because it is thick!) and the Kiehl's on my body, usually SPF 40 though. I also use Vanicream SPF 60, but it is really thick and turns white when you get wet.) If you can't tell, I take my sunscreen seriously, especially since I had a severe pre-cancerous mole removed from my back last summer.

A hat: (I don't want my face getting wrinkles before it should!)


Vineyard Vines: I live in this hat or another baseball cap during the summer.



Any floppy, straw hat. Great for the pool, but not for the beach because the floppiness flies everywhere!


Inflatable beer pong table... ok, not necessary, but highly recommended! Riight now, we rig up 2 boogy boards to play and it doesn't always work out well!

A pink one, obvi!


What are your beach/ pool/ lake essentials?

I hope y'all are having a fab Thursday and happy Cinco de Mayo!!

ERK

A Year Later...

I keep seeing Facebook statuses from people who are seniors in college this year about how they are getting ready to graduate and I can't believe it! Was it really a year ago when I walked across the stage and accepted my diploma? How time flies!! The real world (I'm not really in the real world since I still live with my rents, but we'll call it that) is tough and life after college is very different. I have had a great year, but I have learned plenty of lessons that I thought I would pass along.

1. Take chances!! I never, ever thought I wanted to study abroad, but as my college career came to a close, I realized that I had missed out big time! Luckily for me, I only needed 2 more classes to make my journalism minor a major and I could get those credits in a 6-week program in London. I was terrified to go because I am a home body and knew close to no one going, but it was the best trip of my life and I made great friends!!
2. Don't stress if you don't have a job right out of college! To be honest, I didn't even think about interviewing until after graduation. That may have been because I was going abroad for 6 weeks, but still. Some people have their jobs lined up in January, but don't fret if you do not! Luckily I got a job by September, but many people take longer to get jobs. Just relax and look for jobs doing what you want!! Your first job isn't necessarily your career, so have fun! And network, network, network!!
3. True friends will be your friends forever. As I have mentioned before, my bff's from college and I don't live in the same place, but when we see each other we pick right back up! Going along with this, some friendships aren't worth saving. Sometimes when you do all the work it's just not worth it!
4. Long distance loving is TOUGH!!! Knowing someones emotions and feelings from 500 miles away is not easy and it takes work! But, in the end it is so worth it when you love somebody!
5. Don't compare yourself to others, it will just get you down. There will always be people who are smarter, went to a better school, have more money, are "prettier" etc, but don't compare yourself! I always have trouble with this, but have found myself happier when I don't compare myself with others.
6. Going out all the time and drinking too much is not all it's cracked up to be! I have found that I would rather stay in and wake up well rested than go blow it out every night. I realized since I'm no longer in college, I probs shouldn't act like it! Though, I am not against going out on the weekends and having some fun and blowing off a little steam!!
7. Credit isn't free money. This lesson I am still learning, but after adding up what I owe on credit, I am coming to realize that spending what you don't have is not a good idea.
8. When your life is unpredictable, a dog is not such a good idea. I love Cupie with all my heart and I am so glad I got her, but I admit it was not the best idea to get a dog in college. She is expensive and leaving her alone all the time isn't fair. Luckily, my parents are able to help me when she has a really expensive vet bill and my dad watches her during the day since he doesn't work. Without their help, it would be really tough to keep my little angel.
9. Simplify! When I moved home from college, I made a big deal out of simplifying my life. Giving away/ throwing out most unnecessary stuff and promising myself not to hoard things anymore (though I was not a serious TLC hoarder). I haven't kicked my beauty product hoarding yet, but I have definitely acquired and kept less junk in the past year.
10. Live life for yourself. Do what makes you happy and if it's meant to be it will be. Recently I have had to remind myself often that it is God's plan, not mine. He knows every detail of my entire life already and I have to give my life up to Him.
11. Spend time with your family. I actually learned this lesson after high school, but it's still important. In high school I was rarely home and did not spend much time with the fam, and now I'm wishing I did. I know I am going to be sad when I move out and don't see my parent every day, even if I'm only moving 5 minutes away.
12. Sometimes spending a little money on yourself is just what you need to get out of a funk! I have found that something as simple as buying a new lip gloss or getting my nails done can really brighten my day. I never get my nails done anymore because I wanted to save money and I can almost do my own perfectly, so I save that as a treat for myself.
13. Be kind to strangers. I have always been introverted and have never been one to strike up a convo with a complete strange, but I have learned to do this better in the past year. Just a quick hello or a compliment can go a long way. You will feel great when you make someone smile or when a stranger goes out of their way to say or do something nice for you.

I know I have learned more lessons, but these are some big ones. Have y'all learned any important lessons?

I can't believe it's already Wednesday, this week is flying by!!!

ERK

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

I know everybody knows this picture. It is probably the most recognized images from the end of World War II and I have always loved it. Taken in Times Square, at a time when huge celebrations took over cities at the end of war. I felt like something similar to that happened after it was announced that Osama bin Laden was dead Sunday night, but not on the same grand-scale.

A little information on the photo:

• There has been great controversy over who the two people are in the picture, but is now accepted that it was Glenn McDuffie and Edith Shain
• They were strangers, and the sailor grabbed the nurse in excitement and kissed her for a photographer
• It's called V-J Day in Times Square, though it has had various titles
• It was published in Life Magazine in 1945

The point of all of this... Glenn McDuffie was on my flight to Dallas on Thursday evening! He was a cute old man, and was telling the flight attendants and people around him all about the day and the famous picture. Apparently, he does speaking engagements all over, which is amazing because of his age. He was pretty old but still had it all together!

I thought that was pretty cool!

ERK

Tail Waggin' Tuesday!

I'm linking up with CMae for another edition of tail waggin' Tuesday, and this week's theme is "the look." Cupie gives me soo many hilarious looks, and with such buggy eyes it's impossible not to give the look whenever her eyes are open. She looks at me a different way for all of her moods and it cracks me up!

Here are a few of Cupie's looks:

Mom, peaaasss let me outz! I swears I won't seep on your head and gives you an asssmah tack!



Are yew serrrious? STOP TREATING ME LIKE AN AMINAL!!!



whatcha got der mama?

Play wif me right now!!!

Oh, I love that little doggy!

I hope y'all have a great Tuesday! I am already ready for Friday, ugh!!

ERK

Dallas Weekend Recap!

Hello Ladies! I am back for my short vacay to Dallas and I had a great time! I was so excited to see the bf, because it had been a while. I think this weekend we really started understanding why long-distance stinks so bad! It is so hard, and I hate never being able to be with him, but I know if we try hard we will make it! I did, however, have a several breakdowns this weekend... as he says i'm cray cray. I guess I am a little, but I was a huge ball of emotions about our relationship. I never really talk about him on here cause I think he would prefer me not too, but lets just say we have been together for a while and have experienced plenty of lows, but many more highs. I lub him!

So, on to the weekend. I left work early Thursday afternoon and took the MARTA (aka disgusting Atlanta subway that nobody uses) to the airport and hopped on my plane to DFW.

I have to vent a little here, though. I feel like I travel often and know the ins-and-outs of airports, but I can't stand traveling since airlines have started charging fees to check bags!! Everybody takes a roller board on and people who sit in the back put theirs in the overhead bins right when they get on so it is easy for them when they get off. NEWSFLASH: those are over the seats toward the front of the plane so people in those seats can put their bags in them. No doubt, I always end up having to go several rows behind my seat to put my bag up. I get P.O'ed, pardon my French, when there is nobody sitting down in the first few rows, however all of those bins are full! I really wish flight attendants would say something to those people because they are only making the de-planing process harder!!!

I digress. When I got to Dallas, sweet bf and his super sweet pup picked me up and we headed back to his house to drop the dog off and for me to change and then we went for Mexican food and margs at a place we used to go often, Blue Goose. It was yummy, and I actually drank some margaritas (I hate tequila, and I have senior spring break to thank for that). We went home early though, cause he had work Friday and I was pooped from traveling.

Friday, bf went to work and I went to work cleaning up some things in his apartment. He is always very clean, but I feel like boy "clean" is different from girl "clean." And his kitchen was a disaster because his roommate never does his dishes. I gagged washing them because they were covered in soggy, old food. Ick!! I walked to Raising Canes for lunch near his house and brought it back to eat. Canes is heavenly. All they serve are chicken fingers (like Zaxby's, another favorite of mine) and I always get it when I am there. Their Cane's sauce is sooo good! Later in the afternoon, I walked to Central Market, a nice Whole Foods-like grocery and got lots of goodies to make dinner for bf and friends Friday night. I made pasta (I tried making homemade pasta with a machine I took him as a gift, but it did not work as well as mine and I think the dough was too moist, so I had to end up using store-bought, ugh!) with chicken, arugula salad with blue cheese, pine nuts and balsamic vinaigrette, broccoli, garlic bread and homemade blackberry cobbler for dessert! It was all great, but my favorite was the cobbler, yum! And I didn't even use a recipe, I was proud!

I really needed a zester for my dinner so I grabbed one at the grocery and it was amazing!! It was a microplane and it was so sharp and worked so well! I have heard great things before, but I will be needing one for myself asap (I left that one because I wasn't sure if I could take it on the plane). Does anybody else have one of these bad boys?

After a huge dinner, we all sat down and watched some of the royal wedding reruns and bf was so bored he passed out! Only kidding... sort of! We went to bed  early again and got up Saturday morning to go to bf's second-cousin's daughter's birthday party (you follow me?) She turned 2 and was the cutest thing ever! We had a great time visiting with his family and we stayed for a great lunch! We went home and took a serious nap Saturday afternoon, took the dog to the dog park to run around and swim, and then went to dinner at a delish pizza place and out for a few drinks with another couple at Monica's. It is a great Mexican restaurant that had good margs, a killer live band and a fun atmosphere! After that we headed to one of my college bestie's boyfriends house to hang out and have a few drinks. We stayed there super late, I think we got home around 2 or 3!

Sunday, we got up and went to church then to lunch to meet another college bestie. It was a place we used to eat all the time and it did not disappoint! Then we went to Target because boy needed some cleaning supplies and I got to check out the Calypso collection! So cute! More on that later this week though. We then went back to watch a movie on netflix, which he has connected to his tv. We both fell asleep and didn't wake up until 6:30! We had been planning on going to a movie at 5:25, so that was out of the question. We decided to head to Cheesecake Factory for dinner, chicken bellagio...yum! Then we tried to go to the movies again, except it was sold out!! What luck? We saw it as a sign to head home early and get some sleep because we had to wake up at 4 this morning for me to get to the airport. What a great boyfriend to take me to catch a 5:45 A.M. flight, am I right?

All in all it was a great weekend. I loved seeing the boy and my college ladies, but I am tired right now!! I am going to sleep like a baby tonight!!!

How were y'all's weekends? Who else is beyond happy about the bin Laden news? I am so proud to be an American, but I always am!!! God Bless the U.S.A.!!!!

ERK

Alabama

I can't believe the devastating storms that have hit the South for the past few weeks, but last night's tonados in AL really hit close to home. Very literally, since I am a state away and some of those storms hit North GA. We were fine and only got rain, but watching those videos shows just how powerful the storms are. It is incrediable sad to see entire homes destroyed and so many lives lost. Natural disasters are so scary because it is so hard to know when they will hit and their severity. It also shows just how strong God is.

Please pray for those all over the South who have been affected by these horrible storms, and pray that tornado season ends soon!

ERK

WILW for my very first vlog!

Hey y'all, I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm loving Wednesday and I am doing it in a vlog. My first ever!! I hope y'all enjoy! And yes, I am not wearing any makeup thats why i'm looking a lil funky, and I know my voice sounds weird!

Also, I know you can't see the picture I held up, I was not really thinking. And fyi, my vice is never that southern (if you even thought it was. I don't know why it sounds like that, but most of my friends say I have a northern/ weird accent.)

Anywho, I hope y'all had a fab day!

ERK